AFI’s Vision Council Meeting

SGR’s 10 in 10 Note – October 30, 2024

Our guest commentary this week is from SGR Senior Vice President Clay Pearson. His career has spanned more than 30 years in local government serving communities of varying sizes, geographies, and roles, including as a city manager. Before joining SGR, Clay served as the interim chief transformation officer for the city of Fort Worth, Texas, where he led the Fort Worth Lab, a data-driven, innovative initiative supporting the city's budget development, long-range planning, and organizational transformation. The breadth of his experience has given him the ability to collaborate with elected officials and community leaders to transform their visions into effective, actionable plans.

We’ve all felt it—the convergence of the public sector and leading-edge technology. For many of you looking at AI and govtech, it may feel more comfortable to hang back and view it all as something that is coming, but that’s still far enough down the road that it could possibly be left for someone else to tackle. I get it. Technology can be daunting and even understanding where to start harnessing this new technology, even if it could benefit you, your organization, and your community, can feel like looking up at a mountain you’ve been told to climb.

There’s an easier way. It’s called collaboration…strength in numbers…learning from others…leaning on trusted experts…and exploring new frontiers together.

Read the rest of the commentary

From This Week's 10 in 10

Building Stronger Communities: The Role of Servant Leadership in the Modern?World

A servant leader shares power, puts the needs of employees first, and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible. Not only is this leadership style grounded in ethics and empathy, it has?proven?to create a more productive, collaborative, and successful workplace.?

As cyber threats evolve, cities and counties need to safeguard staffers’ mobile devices

No question, more local governments are facing cyber threats in 2024, says Tim LeMaster, vice president, worldwide systems engineering at?Lookout. His firm is a data-centric cloud security company. It uses a defense-in-depth strategy to address the different stages of modern cybersecurity attacks, which now start with infiltrations of mobile devices.

How Emergency Agencies Can Manage a Storm of Misinformation

Fear and confusion in the aftermath of disasters create fertile ground for misinformation. Social media and AI can amplify it, but there are ways to weather the storm.

Featured Open Recruitments This Week

Data Performance and Analytics Division Director - Temple, TX

Director of Engineering and Public Works - Brownsville, TX

County Auditor - Johnson County, KS

Check out all of SGR’s?Executive Recruitments?and share them with anyone in your network who might be looking for their next opportunity. ?

SGR is thrilled to announce the return of our widely acclaimed Wednesday Webinars. Our next Wednesday Webinar is today (October 30) at 11?a.m. CDT.

Each week we'll explore a new topic. We hope you'll join us for a journey of discovery and learning. Don't forget, the Wednesday Webinars are free and open to everyone.

Like many other city departments, the Round Rock Public Library must navigate complex challenges of serving a rapidly growing city, competing for scarce resources, while maintaining adequate service levels. The library director, Michelle Cervantes, shares the story of how the team applied servant leadership principles to design the new library. Discover why the library converted the manual book sorting process with automation, and how it has transformed the customer experience, improved efficiency, and redeployed scarce resources. Attendees will gain insights into several servant leadership principles for preparing your team for a future with more automation that will ensure a smooth transition and foster a collaborative, innovative work environment. Join us to unlock the potential of these transformative approaches and position your team for long-term growth and resilience.

Short-Term Project Assistance

In our continuing effort to support local government leaders, SGR has launched a variety of services in support of managers in career transition, including short-term project work. These managers can bring a wealth of experience and management expertise to local government projects. See how it can work for your next project.

Read the entire 10 in 10 online.